USA and TBS, Welcome to 80s Sword and Sorcery Exposure
Our childhood’s plant so much in is, it’s undeniable. For me, it was Friday the 13th, action movies, and barbarian stories when it came to film. USA and TBS were the channels I watched. It afforded me a lot of heavily edited Jason movies, Arnold and Stallone movies, and only 4 what I would consider sword and sorcery movies. These were Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Destroyer, Red Sonja, and The Beastmaster. This was the VHS store days so, there was no streaming media. Now that we have streaming media, my exposure to more sword and sorcery films has increased. A film belonging to this genre I missed in my childhood but have recently thoroughly enjoyed is Deathstalker.
Conan & King Arthur’s Baby with a Star Wars Onesie
If you’ve seen Conan the Barbarian and Excalibur, you have an idea. These two have met and had a child together. Put a Star Wars onesie on that child and you have Deathstalker. The plot is simple and is like any other movie of this type. Deathstalker is a warrior who travels the land helping damsels in distress. He meets a witch that gets him a magic sword and sends him on a quest for 2 other magic items possessed by a wizard. Our wizard is conveniently hosting a tournament to find the greatest warrior in the land. This winner will inherit the wizard’s kingdom. Little do the competitors know, the wizard wants to find the warrior to destroy any competition for his thrown. Naturally, Deathstalker enters the tournament and wins.
Deathstalker was like Conan in too many ways to mention in this brief blog but how was it like Excalibur? What reminded me of the Arthurian tale was the magic. Conan The Barbarian wasn’t free of magic but what it had was much better done and not so fantastic as Deathstalker. The focus of our blog was released a year after Conan’s first movie so, I expected some piggybacking. Flashing lights and colorful camera effects represented magic in this movie and not snakes being straightened into arrows. The Star Wars onesie is drawing from the odd humanoid type creatures that are scattered throughout this movie.
Deathstalker is An Enjoyable Adventure
Even though I was right when I assumed that Deathstalker would mimic a lot of Arnold’s classic portrayal of Conan, this movie is still very enjoyable. I have watched it at least 2 times and still enjoy the adventure. The costumes are lacking, and the scenery is decent but, not to the level of the Conan films. All the action is good and there’s even some gore in this one. I don’t recall Arnold having a lot of blood and guts. There was clear deadly combat, but not much blood and guts. Deathstalker has a man ripped apart by horses, some decapitation, and the results of a war mallet on a nimble combatant. A lot of this is surprising and a lot is not. Deathstalker had a $457,000 budget and Conan the Barbarian had a $22M budget. I guess the folks working on this film used some spared some money in wardrobe to add to the gore. Whatever they chose, it worked because Deathstalker is great!
Barbie Benton and Jason Voorhees?
Another thing I enjoyed about this movie was some casting. I had no idea until my second viewing that Richard Brooker played one of the main roles in this movie. For those who don’t know, he played Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th Part III. This movie also features Barbie Benton. I’m not a Barbie Benton expert but there are two pieces of trivia around her that led me to enjoy her involvement in this movie. First, she’s a movie called X-ray from 1981 that is Amazing. It’s commonly known as “The Hospital Massacre” and was only released on VHS. There will be a blog on this movie – hold tight, it is coming. You can read about it here. The second piece of trivia is that the first portrait I remember painting that I felt good about was of Barbie Benton. I intend to paint her again for practice when time allows.
Conan and Red Sonja Fans - Watch Deathstalker Today
Folks, if you are a sword and sorcery fan, you need to see this movie. I hate I didn’t get to see it in my childhood so I could have been a fan longer. I have watched twice and enjoyed both times. Certainly, I will watch this one again. Any fan of Conan or Red Sonja will enjoy this movie, I’m certain. Just know that is a little more fantastic than these two classics. It’s nice to go away to lands filled with magic, imps, and sword fighting sometimes.
If there are other Barbarian movies out there that I’m unaware of, please let me know in the comments. Have a movie you’d like me to watch and blog about, let me know that too. I don’t make promises but, I might do it. In the meantime, I’d love for you to link up with me on all social media platforms, read more of my blogs, check out my art, my photography and more. You can do all of this here.